KidWally
by Velcrochick
Summary: Batman finds a little kid in the Watchtower who claims to be the one and only Wallace Rudolph West. Fluff and investigations ensue.
1. Uncommon Feat

Kid-Wally

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Chapter One  
Uncommon Feat

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The Watchtower wasn't secure. It was late (by Earth standards) and Batman was the only one in the League still there.

And all of his instincts were telling him he wasn't alone.

He scoured the security monitors for any sign of an intruder, but of course the cameras could be fooled into not seeing things that were there, or at least tricked into delivering a false report. So, he began to walk the halls of the WT, looking for anything that might tell him who was here that wasn't supposed to be.

I didn't take long to pinpoint the sounds of human activity, as the silence of space made every tiny noise seem all the louder. But it wasn't what Batman had been expecting.

Someone was crying very softly, and for a moment Batman considered just going on his way. He wasn't the consoling type, and he didn't like to deal with crying people very much. Especially his fellow Leaguers. Of course, he still didn't know if the crying person had a right to be there or not, and the need to check won out over his desire to avoid the situation.

He rounded a corner into the kitchen to see someone very small huddled underneath one of the tables. _That's how they hid from the cameras, _Batman mused, walking over to the table. His footsteps echoed throughout the room ominously, but the crying person never looked up.

As he approached, Batman realized that this person was _very_ small. Child sized, in fact. And he didn't have a clue who it could be, which was more bothersome than the crying itself.

Once he stood directly in front of the table he stopped walking, plunging the room into silence yet again. A moment passed and then the person looked up.

Glossy green eyes stared into the slits in his mask and shocked Batman (an uncommon feat). The person's eyes were the first thing he saw, closely followed by the smooth red hair that hung down in them slightly. That was when he saw that this small person wasn't just child _sized_. He _was_ a child.

The boy looked up at him fearfully for a moment before Batman realized that he wasn't a very kid-friendly image, and that he should say something.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, rather harshly. He frowned at his lack of tact. That _hadn't_ come out as consoling as it had sounded in his head.

"I don't know," the boy said, softly. A tear ran down his already wet cheek and he let out a little sob, burying his face in his hands. Batman sighed, and then crouched down so that the was on the same level as the boy.

"Stop crying," he said, trying to sound comforting. Even to him the words weren't as convincing as he would have liked. "You're safe here." Batman was still wary of this little intruder, as he had seen magic (among other things) do much more than cause someone to appear as a child. But his deep rooted paternal instinct was rearing its ugly head and he couldn't quite help but give the boy the benefit of the doubt as to why he was there.

The boy sniffled and rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand. "Why don't you come out from under there?" Batman asked, moving back a bit to give the boy space.

The kid looked at him a little less fearfully than before and crawled out from beneath the table. Batman noticed with a flicker of interest that the boy had on a red shirt that bore Flash's circle-and-lightning symbol.

"Who are you?" Batman asked, beginning to think about what he was going to do with the kid (if that was really all this person was).

"Wally," the boy answered, catching Batman off guard and making it the second time in as many minutes that the kid had surprised him.

"What did you say?" he asked, sounding slightly more menacing than was strictly necessary.

"Wally. I'm Wally." The boy looked a little intimidated by Batman's demeanor, but gave his answer in a perfectly clear voice.

"Wally?" Batman repeated, recognition bubbling up inside him. "Wally...West?"

"Yep," the boy said, smiling a little bit. As he grinned he seemed to lose some of his fear, as if just smiling could give him all the confidence he needed. He puffed out his chest in pride and stood a little straighter. "I'm Wally Wudolph West," he said, stumbling over the 'R' in Rudolph.

Batman stared. His mind worked frantically to deny what he was being told, but the boy standing before him _did_ looked like the Wally he knew. The hair, the eyes... It was a wonder that those features hadn't triggered some level of recognition before.

"Are you..." Batman struggled to find the right words to make this kid-Wally understand. "Can you... run fast?"

The kid-Wally looked puzzled, and then shrugged. "I can run sorda fast. But there are lotsa people who go faster than me."

Possibilities muddled Batman's thoughts. _The Flash I know turned into a kid? Could be Flash from the past, and the present-day one is around here somewhere... _In order to narrow them down, he asked, "Do you remember how you got here?"

Kid-Wally's eyes got very large and round, and he nodded. "Yeah! There was a big light, and then it was gone, and there was a guy with no hair, and he said something but I didn't know what it meant, and then he went away and left me here, and I was alone for a long time and I didn't know where I was so I got sad and I came in here and started to cry, but then you came and I stopped crying and now... Now is now!" He was smiling and looking very proud of himself.

Ignoring to extreme run-on and lack of actual information in the story, Batman thought for a moment and picked out what was probably the only useful fact contained within the entire narrative. "A man with no hair? Can you tell me anything else about him?"

"He had a black suit. And he was tall."

Batman considered this with a sinking feeling that told him the Flash he knew was standing right before him, scratching his head and mussing up his hair.

"Wally?"

"Yeah?" kid-Wally said, now trying to smooth back his hair so that it stayed out of his eyes. It seemed to stay in place for a moment, but flipped back into his face as soon as he dropped his hand.

"Do you remember anything _before_ that?"

Kid-Wally stopped playing with his hair and blinked at Batman. He thought for a moment, chewing on his lower lip while his eyebrows pulled together. Then he looked down at his feet and started to shake slightly. It was only when kid-Wally started making whimpering sounds that Batman realized he had begun to cry again.

"Do you remember anything?" Batman repeated, unsure of how to deal with this fresh round of tears.

"I remember s-some stuff. B-but not e-everyt-thing," kid-Wally sobbed. He looked up from the floor for a moment before rushing forwards and throwing his arms around Batman's neck in a hug. He then buried his face in Batman's shoulder and continued to cry softly.

"I'm scared," he murmured between tears.

Batman's first instinct was to pull away from the embrace, but after a second's thought he figured that pulling away would not only hurt the kid-Wally's feelings, but would also probably knock him to the ground and _physically _hurt him. Instead he returned the gesture with the most Batman-ly hug he could summon and tried to think of something that would relax the boy.

"Are you tired?" he asked. And then, remembering Flash's never ending quest for food, he added, "Or hungry?"

Kid-Wally pulled back from the hug and sniffled before saying, "I'm sleepy."

Clearly this wasn't _just _a miniaturized version of the Flash.

"Alright." Batman stood up and was about to take kid-Wally in the direction of Flash's room, when his instincts told him how bad of an idea that could prove to be. If this was Flash from the past, showing him his future self's bedroom might mess up the time line or something equally damaging. "You can sleep on my bed," he said, deciding that it was better to be safe than sorry, and began to walk towards his room in the Watchtower.

"What about you?" kid-Wally asked, following behind at a slower pace.

"I have to go home. I'm needed in Gotham for important business tomorrow and-"

"No! You can't leave me alone!"

Batman turned around, surprised by the boy's sudden outburst. "I have to."

"Then I'll go with you!"

"No."

"But I'll be scared alone," kid-Wally said sadly. He rubbed at his eyes and looked as though he was about to cry again.

It appeared as though Batman had forgotten how manipulative children could be when they wanted something. The thought that he could ever have forgotten the many times he had been tricked into doing something he hadn't wanted to by Dick made him inwardly embarrassed. But, the damage had been done.

"I'll stay. But _don't _cry!" he growled, a little harshly. The boy smiled up at him anyway. It would have made Batman angry had it been the Flash he knew, but since it wasn't and it actually _did _make sense for him to stay so that he could explain to the other heroes the next day, he let it go without another word.

The two of them walked in silence until they reached Batman's room. He tapped a code into the keypad beside the door and it slid open without a sound. "There's a cot around here somewhere that you could sleep on," Batman said. He rummaged around in his rarely used closet and pulled out an unfold-able cot along with an extra blanket and pillow.

Once it was set up, he motioned for kid-Wally to get in bed, while he went into the bathroom and changed out of his Batman suit and into pajamas more suited to Bruce Wayne.

Upon reentering the room, he found kid-Wally apparently sleeping soundly on the cot, so he followed the kid's example and climbed into his own bed. It felt good to finally close his eyes after the long day he had spend wide awake, but as soon as he felt himself drifting off there was an unexpected pressure on the bed. Bruce cracked an eye open to see kid-Wally slipping in bed beside him. He thought momentarily about ousting the boy, but decided to let it slide after he heard a soft sniffle that indicated Wally was still upset.

He closed his eyes again, and fell asleep to the sound of kid-Wally's soft, steady breathing.

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AN: So, there you have it! Thanks for reading! Superman pops up next chapter... It would make me very confident if you reviewed, because right now I'm seriously doubting whether or not anyone besides me is going to be interested in this story.


	2. You Don't Have To Lie

Chapter Two  
You Don't Have To Lie

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"You know what my favorite animal is?"

Bruce opened his eyes wearily to find kid-Wally sitting on his chest and blinking his own very green eyes at him. The question took a moment to sink in, and when it did he mumbled, "No."

The boy scrambled off of Bruce, allowing him to sit up straight. "Guess!"

"I don't know..." Bruce considered this for a second and decided to hazard a guess. "Cheetah?"

Kid-Wally's eyes lit up. "Yeah! Because cheetahs are_ fast_. Only they're not as fast as the Flash. He's the fastest man alive! Flash is my favorite superhero. Is your favorite animal a bat? You're Batman, right? What's Batman's superpower? Who's your favorite hero?"

Apparently Flash's habit of talking too fast wasn't totally a side effect of his power. Bruce picked out a question at random and answered. "Batman doesn't have any powers."

"You have to answer_ all_ the questions!" kid-Wally said indignantly.

Bruce sighed. "Alright then. No, yes, I don't have one."

"Oh. Uh... What did I ask?"

Figures. This _was_ the Flash he was dealing with here, albeit a different version than he was used to. "_No _bats aren't my favorite animals, _yes_ I'm Batman, and _I don't have_ a favorite hero." The edge of frustration that had crept into his voice didn't sound nice at all, and Bruce mentally prepared himself to have an upset kid on his hands again.

Kid-Wally simply considered this information for a moment before saying, "Oh. That's boring."

Well, he wouldn't be Flash if he did what Batman expected, would he?

"Maybe," Bruce said, throwing back the blankets on his bed and getting to his feet. "Do you want some breakfast?"

Kid-Wally cocked his head to the side and shrugged. "Do you have Cheerios?"

"Most likely," Bruce said, returning to his bathroom in order to change back into the batsuit.

When he was in full superhero costume mode he led the way back to the kitchen where he had found kid-Wally, and was surprised to find Superman already there, drinking a cup of coffee while reading _The Gotham Times_.

He looked up as soon as Batman was close and said, "Batman, thank goodness you're here. I've been trying to contact Flash for hours now, but no one knows where he is. Even J'onn can't find him! I think something is wrong... Have you seen him around?"

Batman sighed, his fears confirmed. "I've seen him."

"Oh good," Superman said with a small smile of relief. "Where is he?"

Batman crossed his arms and then stepped aside to reveal kid-Wally tugging on his red Flash t-shirt and looking equal parts nervous and excited.

Superman blinked at the boy. The fact that Batman had brought a little kid to the Watchtower was cause for worry, as Batman he taken in strays before and Superman wasn't convinced that it was necessarily a good thing for them. Especially this kid, who Superman thought would burst into tears if he so much as looked a hardened criminal, let alone fought one. Although he was pretty sure that Batman had some sort of one-at-a-time policy, and the last time he had checked Tim Drake was still alive and (quite literally) kicking. And the black-haired, blue-eyed trend seemed to have gone up in smoke...

He turned back to Batman, and there was something in the almost _condescending_ look Batman was giving him that didn't seem to fit in with the 'meet my new sidekick' scenario. That, coupled with the fact that this was the only answer he had received to the "Where's Wally?" question... Superman's eyes widened in understanding. "This is Fla-"

"Wally," Batman cut in, giving Superman a Look. "This is Wally. Wally, meet Superman."

Kid-Wally threw a quick glance up at Batman, and then, as if deciding that it was okay to be excited, smiled brightly and said, "Hi!"

The smile Superman gave in return didn't quite compare to the kid's almost blinding grin. "What is going on here?" he hissed at Batman, dropping the attempt at a smile.

"I'll explain in a minute. Do we have any Cheerios?"

The fact that Batman, Mr. Doom and Gloom, the Dark Knight himself, was asking for a box of _Cheerios_ of all cereals would have made Superman laugh out loud on any other day, but his previous worrying about Flash and now the kid that Batman was claiming_ was _Flash sort of made everything look a lot less humorous.

"Hold on," Superman said, getting up and leaving the room for a moment before returning with the cereal. He poured some into a bowl and splashed milk over it before handing it over to Batman, who put the bowl on a table and motioned for kid-Wally to sit and eat. After giving the boy a spoon, Batman pulled Superman off to the huge window overlooking the Earth.

Superman immediately took on a frazzled expression. "You can't actually think that kid is Flash, can you? It's absurd!"

"I'm aware of how ridiculous it sounds, but it has to be true. The kid _looks_ like Wally West. The hair, the eyes... The only thing is, he doesn't know anything about having superpowers. He keeps talking about how Flash is his favorite superhero, which must mean that wherever or whenever he is from, Barry Allen is still alive."

"But how do you explain that?"

"I asked him how he got here, and all he could tell me was that he saw a bright light and then a 'tall, man with no hair who wore a black suit' spoke to him before leaving him alone here in the Watchtower. Now who does that sound like to you?"

Superman's brow furrowed and he shook his head while crossing his arms. "Lex Luthor? Batman, really, that doesn't make sen-"

"Then how do _you_ explain it?" Batman growled. "That boy says his name is Wally Rudolph West."

Superman considered this for a moment, then said, "He could be some sort of a robot, sent to spy on us."

On the list of all the nonsensical things Batman had put up with from Superman, _robot theories_ were in the top five. "Why would someone need to build a robot to spy on us if they _already knew Flash's identity_?"

"We should get J'onn to look into the kid's mind and see if he's human," Superman said, clearly not listening to Batman at all.

Batman sighed in exasperation. The idea that the kid could be a robot was crazy... but it bothered Batman that he hadn't thought of it as a possibility before, and it bothered him even more when he remembered that he had told the kid he was Bruce Wayne. Not in so many words, of course, but the kid had seen his face. He felt suddenly furious as his paranoia took over and he turned to glare at the boy. Kid-Wally was looking out the huge window with wide eyes as he munched away on his cereal.

He _wasn't_ a robot. But then again, Batman had seen robots do far more complicated things than pretend to be an seven-year-old and eat cereal. So there was no way of knowing just by looking.

"But J'onn is on Earth, helping Green Lantern."

"Get him up here ASAP," Batman growled.

Superman frowned in thought and headed off the the communications room, leaving Batman behind to watch kid-Wally eat his breakfast.

Kid-Wally swallowed the last few O's and slurped down the rest of the milk in his bowl. "Are you mad at me?" he asked as Batman walked over to him.

Batman cleared his face of his angry expression and said, "No."

"It's okay if you are," kid-Wally said, giving Batman a dubious look. "Everyone gets mad sometimes so you don't have to lie. My mom says it's not good to lie about what you feel."

Batman really hoped that this kid wasn't a robot. "I'm not lying."

"That's good." Kid-Wally beamed up at him and then tilted his head slightly to the left, gaze drifting out past Batman to the window overlooking Earth. "Why are we in space?"

"It's the best location for the Justice League's headquarters."

"What's the Justice League?"

"It's a team of heroes who protect Earth."

"Cool! Is Flash in the Justice League?"

"..." It was disconcerting for Batman to talk about Flash with what could possibly be his past self. It occurred to him that if this _was_ Flash from the past, the result of his displacement in time could be that Flash as Batman knew him never existed. The thought chilled him and he suddenly hoped J'onn would hurry up so they could get some idea as to what the story was.

Batman shoved the thoughts away and returned his attention to the kid who was staring patiently at him. "Yes, Flash is in the Justice League. He was one of the founding members."

"Cool!" kid-Wally repeated. "Is he here?"

"No."

"Oh." Disappointment flickered across the boy's face, but he quickly recovered. "Where did Superman go?"

"He went to get J'onn J'onzz so we can find out how you got here." That sounded much better than the original reason for dragging J'onn into this mess.

"Who is John Jones?"

"A Martian superhero."

"What's a Martian?"

"A person from Mars."

"Where is Mars?"

"It's a different planet in our solar system. It used to be like Earth, but now no one lives there."

"Where did they go?"

"They...died."

Kid-Wally instantly became very sad. "My grandma and grandpa died too. Every one cried a lot. Did people cry a lot when the Martians died?"

"It was too long ago. No one knew what Mars was when it happened."

"So no one was sad?"

"J'onn was sad. He's the last one of his kind."

"I would be scared if I was the last person in the world. And lonely. John is lucky because he has you and Superman to be his friends."

Batman didn't know how to respond to that, but he was saved from answering by the return of Superman.

"Batman? J'onn and Green Lantern will be up here in a minute, probably less."

* * *

AN: Thank you to everyone who reviewed, it was very encouraging! Well, more than that. It made me want to do cartwheels and I haven't done that since I was KW's age and taking gymnastics classes. Chapter three will take a little while because school starts in two days, but I have a rough draft already written up so it shouldn't be_ too_ long.  
Thanks for reading!


	3. Like A Hero

Chapter Three

Like A Hero

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It took exactly fifty-five seconds for Green Lantern and J'onn to arrive, and then, fifteen seconds later, Hawkgirl and Wonder Woman materialized in the teleporters. Batman, who had left kid-Wally behind in the kitchen to meet up with J'onn and GL, glared at Superman.

"This wasn't supposed to be a _League meeting,_" Batman growled, gesturing to the two women. Wonder Woman put her hands on her hips and frowned at Batman, while Hawkgirl reached instinctively for her mace.

"I know," Superman said, either unaware of the anger in the room or tactfully ignoring it. "But it seemed only fair to let Hawkgirl and Wonder Woman know. What happened to Flash is of interest to everyone. Besides, they might be able to help. You know what they say-"

"_Six_ heads are better than_ four_?"

Superman blinked and then had the decency to look embarrassed.

Hawkgirl stepped forwards and said, "Superman told us you found Flash. Where is he?"

With a frown Batman sent a pointed look at Superman. "You explain to them. J'onn, come with me," he ordered, beckoning to the Martian. The two of them left the transport room and Batman explained what had happened as they walked.

"I don't know if he's the Flash that we know transformed somehow, or a past/alternate version of him," Batman said once he was finished filling J'onn in. "Whichever it is, he says he doesn't remember much from before he got here. Superman thinks he could be a robot spy. We need you to help us find out who or what he is and where he came from."

"I'm sure I will find something," J'onn assured him as they entered the kitchen to find kid-Wally staring out the window.

When he heard Batman return the kid whirled around with a smile on his face. Upon seeing J'onn, however, the smile vanished and a small frown took its place. He walked slowly over to stand behind Batman, all the while keeping his eyes glued to the Martian.

"Wally, this is J'onn. Like I said, he's going to tell us how you got to the Watchtower." Batman said, introducing the two.

"How?" kid-Wally asked nervously.

"I have telepathic powers that may allow me to access memories of yours that you cannot," J'onn explained.

It was obvious to Batman that kid-Wally had no idea what that meant, but when the boy looked up at him for assurance he nodded, which seemed to do the trick.

"Okay," kid-Wally said, appearing a little bolder than before if stepping out from behind Batman was any indication. "What do I do?"

"Nothing. I will do all the work."

J'onn closed his eyes for a moment and they reopened glowing orange. It was silent in the room for a while afterward, and Batman and kid-Wally decided to sit down at a table while they waited. Batman was thankful that Superman had enough sense in him to keep the rest of the League out of this while they got everything sorted out.

It was five minutes later when J'onn's eyes returned to normal. He turned and found Batman with his eyes, giving him a look that meant he had indeed found something. "Stay here," Batman told kid-Wally. "We'll be back." He stood and made his way over to J'onn, motioning outside the oom so they could speak without being overheard.

"Wait!" kid-Wally shouted. Batman turned around, annoyed.

"Why do you have to leave? What's wrong with me?"

"Nothing's wrong with you. But J'onn and I have... adult things to talk about. Just wait here."

"But-"

"Just stay here!" Batman said sharply, storming off with J'onn right on his heels.

Once they were out of the kitchen Batman asked, "Did you figure anything out?"

"I believe he is from the past, brought here though some type of portal or other anomaly."

"What makes you say that?"

"His only memories are those of a normal, seven year old human. From what I could see, all the events in his lifetime so far correspond to those of the Flash as we know him. Were he from a parallel universe, it is highly unlikely that they would share such similar backgrounds. Also, I saw Luthor kidnap him."

Sometimes Batman was surprised by how much J'onn liked to hear himself talk. "I see. Any idea why he doesn't remember that?"

"Perhaps time traveling caused him some trauma? It is difficult to say for sure without knowing exactly how they navigated through time."

"But at least we have a lead. I think we ought to pay Luthor a visit and get some information. I'm sure we'll sort this out in no time," Batman said.

J'onn nodded. "I will inform Superman," he said, becoming intangible a moment later and drifting through the wall closest to them. Batman headed back into the kitchen only to find kid-Wally sobbing.

"Wally!" he shouted in concern, rushing over to the boy. "Wally, what's wrong?"

Kid-Wally pulled away from Batman and didn't respond.

"Did someone hurt you?"

"Y-you said you w-weren't m-mad at me," kid-Wally wailed. "But you y-yelled at me!"

The thing about little kids was that Batman rarely had to deal with them, and when he did it was mostly in a rescuing capacity. Batman was mean to _everyone._ It was a well known fact. But it was a hard habit to break, and with this little Wally, of all people, it was even harder for Batman to check himself. "Wally," he said. "I'm not mad at you." Annoyed, yes, but not mad.

The boy continued to cry and said, "Yes you are! You're lying! You lied before! You're a _liar_."

Seeing no way out of the situation without confirming kid-Wally's fears, Batman gave in. "I... I'm sorry."

Kid-Wally sniffled but didn't respond. Batman heard a soft sound across the room and before he could turn to check it out someone spoke.

"Aww. Who knew Batman had feelings?"

He spun around sharply and stood. Hawkgirl, Green Lantern, and Wonder Woman were smiling at him and laughing slightly. "It's sweet," Hawkgirl finished with a laugh.

Batman growled and was about to chase the three of them off when he picked up the sound of a soft whimper. Looking down, he saw kid-Wally staring at Hawkgirl with a look of terror on his face.

The three Leaguers moved closer to them and kid-Wally cowered away, grabbing Batman's cape and using it to hide himself.

Apparently no one but Batman had noticed the boy's fear. "That little kid is Flash?" Green Lantern questioned skeptically, earning himself a death glare from Batman.

"No. This is _Wally West_. _Flash_ is his favorite superhero," he growled.

Comprehension dawned on Lantern's face. "Oh, right. Sorry."

Hawkgirl tilted her head to the side. "Let's get a better look at him," she said as she moved to do just that.

Kid-Wally dropped Batman's cape and ran around him so that he was on the side opposite Hawkgirl, who continued to chase him around for another few seconds. Batman watched the proceedings in annoyance but didn't do anything to stop the boy.

With a groan of frustration Hawkgirl stopped and went over to stand beside GL once again. "What's his _problem?_" she asked, putting her hands on her hips.

"Looks to me like he's scared of you," Green Lantern said, grinning in amusement.

"Scared? Why would Fl-" Batman anticipated what Hawkgirl was about to say and sent a second death glare in her direction. She noticed it in time and checked herself. "-_Wally_, be scared of me?"

"Isn't the point of your mask to frighten enemies?" Batman pointed out with a smirk.

Hawkgirl blinked and then turned away from Batman. "Since I'm obviously not going to be any help here, I'll just go find Superman." Green Lantern watched her stalk off, shrugged at the two other heroes, and then followed behind her.

As the sound of their footsteps faded away, kid-Wally poked his head out from behind Batman's cape. "Who was that?" he asked, voice shaking slightly.

"Hawkgirl. She's part of the League, so there's no reason to be scared of her."

"Oh." Kid-Wally seemed to remember what he had been doing before the other Leaguers entered, because he backed swiftly away from Batman and said, "My mom says that sometimes people say sorry even though they don't mean it because they think it will make people feel better."

Batman looked over to Wonder Woman for help. He didn't have the patience for this kid-Wally. He didn't have the patience for _their_ Wally, but you could tell Flash to go away and find something else to do. This kid was already an emotional wreck without Batman telling him to scram.

"Wonder Woman, do you think you could...?" he let the question trail off because he was afraid of hurting kid-Wally's feelings even more than he already had.

"I'll try," she said, shrugging. She went over and knelt down before kid-Wally with a smile on her face. "Don't worry, Wally. Batman hurts people's feelings sometimes without meaning to." Her eyes darted up to meet Batman's gaze for a fraction of a second. "I'm sure he really means it when he says he's sorry."

Kid-Wally thought about this for a second and then looked up at Batman while rubbing his eyes. "I'm sorry too," he said.

"Why?"

"I called you a liar. And you aren't. I know you aren't, because heroes only lie about their secret identities and that's because they have to, to protect their families and stuff. So I'm sorry. My mom says it's bad to call people names."

Batman looked over at Wonder Woman, who was staring at kid-Wally with her mouth slightly agape. She turned to face him and disgusted Batman by saying, "_Aw!_" But she seemed to understand Batman's frustration since she said to the boy, "Would you like to explore the Watchtower with me? There are lots of interesting rooms to see."

Kid-Wally tugged on his shirt and then said, "Will Batman come?" His green eyes blinked up at the man, who could see that Wally, for whatever reason, trusted him over Wonder Woman.

"I don't think so. He wants to help Superman and J'onn find out how you got here, so you can go back home. He can't do that if he comes with us," Wonder Woman said.

"But why can't I just go home right now?"

Wonder Woman and Batman shared a look and Batman cut into the conversation."Because it could be dangerous for you to go back," Batman said, making the story up as he went along. "The man who brought you here might come looking for you again, and if he found you at home he might hurt your family. If you stay here, they'll be safe and so will you."

Kid-Wally's eyes were shining brightly. "Like a _hero_!" he said in excitement.

"Exactly. Now, I have to go. If you need anything ask Wonder Woman; she'll take care of you."

Batman nodded to Wonder Woman and began to walk away. Not a moment later, something grabbed his leg and he looked down to see kid-Wally clinging to him. He began to get exasperated again when he thought that the boy was trying to make him stay, but when kid-Wally stepped back and said, "Bye, Batman," he cooled down again.

"Goodbye Wally. I'll be back later."

"Good." Kid-Wally smiled and scratched his head, causing the hair that had been behaving so well since the morning to fall back into his eyes.

Batman gently smoothed it back before heading off again to meet up with Superman and J'onn.

Behind him, Wonder Woman took kid-Wally's hand and said, "So, Wally. Have you ever flown before?"

Kid-Wally giggled excitedly, and as the doors slid shut behind him Batman couldn't help the small smile that tugged on the corners of his mouth.

* * *

AN: Phew! That was a bit of a wait, huh? My goal was to finish this before November since I'm going to be doing NaNoWriMo, but unfortunately life has been getting in the way. So that was probably a pretty unrealistic goal on my part. But I WILL finish, I promise. So...hang in there! (that doesn't sound very reassuring, does it?)

And I'm sorry about not replying to anyone's reviews because I really appreciate them! I have many excuses but I'll keep them to myself and just vow to not do the same thing for this chapter. Sounds good, yes?

Thanks for reading!


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